JANUARY 12th, 1836. -- Early in the morning a light aircarried us towards the entrance of Port Jackson. Insteadof beholding a verdant country, interspersed withfine houses, a straight line of yellowish cliff brought to ourminds the coast of Patagonia. A solitary lighthouse, built ofwhite stone, alone told us that we were near a great andpopulous city. Having entered the harbour, it appears fineand spacious, with cliff-formed shores of horizontallystratified sandstone. The nearly level country is covered withthin scrubby trees, bespeaking the curse of sterility.Proceeding further inland, the country improves: beautifulvillas and nice cottages are here and there scattered along thebeach. In the distance stone houses, two and three stories high,and windmills standing on the edge of a bank, pointed out to usthe neighbourhood of the capital of Australia.

At last we anchored within Sydney Cove. We found thelittle basin occupied by many large ships, and surrounded bywarehouses. In the evening I walked through the town, andreturned full of admiration at the whole scene. It is a mostmagnificent testimony to the power of the British nation.Here, in a less promising country, scores of years have donemany more times more than an equal number of centurieshave effected in South America. My first feeling was tocongratulate myself that I was born an Englishman. Uponseeing more of the town afterwards, perhaps my admirationfell a little; but yet it is a fine town. The streets areregular, broad, clean, and kept in excellent order; the housesare of a good size, and the shops well furnished. It may befaithfully compared to the large suburbs which stretch out fromLondon and a few other great towns in England; but not even nearLondon or Birmingham is there an appearance of such rapidgrowth. The number of large houses and other buildings justfinished was truly surprising; nevertheless, every onecomplained of the high rents and difficulty in procuring ahouse. Coming from South America, where in the towns every manof property is known, no one thing surprised me more thannot being able to ascertain at once to whom this or thatcarriage belonged.

I hired a man and two horses to take me to Bathurst, avillage about one hundred and twenty miles in the interior,and the centre of a great pastoral district. By this means Ihoped to gain a general idea of the appearance of the country.On the morning of the 16th (January) I set out on my excursion.The first stage took us to Paramatta, a small countrytown, next to Sydney in importance. The roads were excellent,and made upon the MacAdam principle, whinstone havingbeen brought for the purpose from the distance of severalmiles. In all respects there was a close resemblance to England:perhaps the alehouses here were more numerous. The iron gangs,or parties of convicts who have committed here some offense,appeared the least like England: they were working in chains,under the charge of sentries with loaded arms.

The power which the government possesses, by meansof forced labour, of at once opening good roads throughoutthe country, has been, I believe, one main cause of the earlyprosperity of this colony. I slept at night at a verycomfortable inn at Emu ferry, thirty-five miles from Sydney,and near the ascent of the Blue Mountains. This line ofroad is the most frequented, and has been the longest inhabitedof any in the colony. The whole land is enclosedwith high railings, for the farmers have not succeeded inrearing hedges. There are many substantial houses and goodcottages scattered about; but although considerable pieces ofland are under cultivation, the greater part yet remains aswhen first discovered.

The extreme uniformity of the vegetation is the mostremarkable feature in the landscape of the greater part ofNew South Wales. Everywhere we have an open woodland,the ground being partially covered with a very thin pasture,with little appearance of verdure. The trees nearly allbelong to one family, and mostly have their leaves placed ina vertical, instead of as in Europe, in a nearly horizontalposition: the foliage is scanty, and of a peculiar pale greentint, without any gloss. Hence the woods appear light andshadowless: this, although a loss of comfort to the travellerunder the scorching rays of summer, is of importance to thefarmer, as it allows grass to grow where it otherwise wouldnot. The leaves are not shed periodically: this characterappears common to the entire southern hemisphere, namely,South America, Australia, and the Cape of Good Hope. Theinhabitants of this hemisphere, and of the intertropicalregions, thus lose perhaps one of the most glorious, thoughto our eyes common, spectacles in the world -- the firstbursting into full foliage of the leafless tree. They may,however, say that we pay dearly for this by having the landcovered with mere naked skeletons for so many months. This istoo true but our senses thus acquire a keen relish for theexquisite green of the spring, which the eyes of those livingwithin the tropics, sated during the long year with the gorgeousproductions of those glowing climates, can never experience.The greater number of the trees, with the exceptionof some of the Blue-gums, do not attain a large size;but they grow tall and tolerably straight, and stand wellapart. The bark of some of the Eucalypti falls annually, orhangs dead in long shreds which swing about with the wind,and give to the woods a desolate and untidy appearance. Icannot imagine a more complete contrast, in every respect,than between the forests of Valdivia or Chiloe, and thewoods of Australia.

At sunset, a party of a score of the black aborigines passedby, each carrying, in their accustomed manner, a bundle ofspears and other weapons. By giving a leading young man ashilling, they were easily detained, and threw their spears formy amusement. They were all partly clothed, and severalcould speak a little English: their countenances were good-humoured and pleasant, and they appeared far from beingsuch utterly degraded beings as they have usually beenrepresented. In their own arts they are admirable. A cap beingfixed at thirty yards distance, they transfixed it with a spear,delivered by the throwing-stick with the rapidity of an arrowfrom the bow of a practised archer. In tracking animals ormen they show most wonderful sagacity; and I heard of severalof their remarks which manifested considerable acuteness.They will not, however, cultivate the ground, or buildhouses and remain stationary, or even take the trouble oftending a flock of sheep when given to them. On the wholethey appear to me to stand some few degrees higher in thescale of civilization than the Fuegians.

It is very curious thus to see in the midst of a civilizedpeople, a set of harmless savages wandering about withoutknowing where they shall sleep at night, and gaining theirlivelihood by hunting in the woods. As the white man hastravelled onwards, he has spread over the country belongingto several tribes. These, although thus enclosed by one commonpeople, keep up their ancient distinctions, and sometimesgo to war with each other. In an engagement whichtook place lately, the two parties most singularly chose thecentre of the village of Bathurst for the field of battle. Thiswas of service to the defeated side, for the runaway warriorstook refuge in the barracks.

The number of aborigines is rapidly decreasing. In mywhole ride, with the exception of some boys brought up byEnglishmen, I saw only one other party. This decrease, nodoubt, must be partly owing to the introduction of spirits, toEuropean diseases (even the milder ones of which, such asthe measles,

Besides the several evident causes of destruction, thereappears to be some more mysterious agency generally atwork. Wherever the European has trod, death seems to pursuethe aboriginal. We may look to the wide extent of theAmericas, Polynesia, the Cape of Good Hope, and Australia,and we find the same result. Nor is it the white man alonethat thus acts the destroyer; the Polynesian of Malay extractionhas in parts of the East Indian archipelago, thus drivenbefore him the dark-coloured native. The varieties of manseem to act on each other in the same way as different speciesof animals -- the stronger always extirpating the weaker. Itwas melancholy at New Zealand to hear the fine energeticnatives saying that they knew the land was doomed to passfrom their children. Every one has heard of the inexplicablereduction of the population in the beautiful and healthy islandof Tahiti since the date of Captain Cook's voyages: althoughin that case we might have expected that it would have beenincreased; for infanticide, which formerly prevailed to soextraordinary a degree, has ceased; profligacy has greatlydiminished, and the murderous wars become less frequent.

The Rev. J. Williams, in his interesting work,

17th. -- Early in the morning we passed the Nepean in aferry-boat. The river, although at this spot both broad anddeep, had a very small body of running water. Havingcrossed a low piece of land on the opposite side, we reachedthe slope of the Blue Mountains. The ascent is not steep,the road having been cut with much care on the side of asandstone cliff. On the summit an almost level plain extends,which, rising imperceptibly to the westward, at last attainsa height of more than 3000 feet. From so grand a title asBlue Mountains, and from their absolute altitude, I expectedto have seen a bold chain of mountains crossing the country;but instead of this, a sloping plain presents merely aninconsiderable front to the low land near the coast. Fromthis first slope, the view of the extensive woodland to theeast was striking, and the surrounding trees grew bold andlofty. But when once on the sandstone platform, the scenerybecomes exceedingly monotonous; each side of the road isbordered by scrubby trees of the never-failing Eucalyptusfamily; and with the exception of two or three small inns,there are no houses or cultivated land: the road, moreover,is solitary; the most frequent object being a bullock-waggon,piled up with bales of wool.

In the middle of the day we baited our horses at a littleinn, called the Weatherboard. The country here is elevated2800 feet above the sea. About a mile and a half from thisplace there is a view exceedingly well worth visiting. Followingdown a little valley and its tiny rill of water, animmense gulf unexpectedly opens through the trees whichborder the pathway, at the depth of perhaps 1500 feet.Walking on a few yards, one stands on the brink of a vastprecipice, and below one sees a grand bay or gulf, for I knownot what other name to give it, thickly covered with forest.The point of view is situated as if at the head of a bay, theline of cliff diverging on each side, and showing headlandbehind headland, as on a bold sea-coast. These cliffs arecomposed of horizontal strata of whitish sandstone; andare so absolutely vertical, that in many places a personstanding on the edge and throwing down a stone, can see itstrike the trees in the abyss below. So unbroken is the lineof cliff, that in order to reach the foot of the waterfall,formed by this little stream, it is said to be necessary to gosixteen miles round. About five miles distant in front,another line of cliff extends, which thus appears completelyto encircle the valley; and hence the name of bay is justified,as applied to this grand amphitheatrical depression. If weimagine a winding harbour, with its deep water surroundedby bold cliff-like shores, to be laid dry, and a forest tospring up on its sandy bottom, we should then have theappearance and structure here exhibited. This kind of view wasto me quite novel, and extremely magnificent.

In the evening we reached the Blackheath. The sandstoneplateau has here attained the height of 3400 feet; andis covered, as before, with the same scrubby woods. Fromthe road, there were occasional glimpses into a profoundvalley, of the same character as the one described; but fromthe steepness and depth of its sides, the bottom was scarcelyever to be seen. The Blackheath is a very comfortable inn,kept by an old soldier; and it reminded me of the small innsin North Wales.

18th. -- Very early in the morning, I walked about threemiles to see Govett's Leap; a view of a similar characterwith that near the Weatherboard, but perhaps even morestupendous. So early in the day the gulf was filled with athin blue haze, which, although destroying the general effectof the view added to the apparent depth at which the forestwas stretched out beneath our feet. These valleys, which solong presented an insuperable barrier to the attempts of themost enterprising of the colonists to reach the interior, aremost remarkable. Great arm-like bays, expanding at theirupper ends, often branch from the main valleys and penetratethe sandstone platform; on the other hand, the platformoften sends promontories into the valleys, and evenleaves in them great, almost insulated, masses. To descendinto some of these valleys, it is necessary to go round twentymiles; and into others, the surveyors have only latelypenetrated, and the colonists have not yet been able to drive intheir cattle. But the most remarkable feature in their structureis, that although several miles wide at their heads, theygenerally contract towards their mouths to such a degreeas to become impassable. The Surveyor-General, Sir T.Mitchell,

The first impression, on seeing the correspondence of thehorizontal strata on each side of these valleys and greatamphitheatrical depressions, is that they have been hollowedout, like other valleys, by the action of water; but when onereflects on the enormous amount of stone, which on thisview must have been removed through mere gorges orchasms, one is led to ask whether these spaces may not havesubsided. But considering the form of the irregularlybranching valleys, and of the narrow promontories projectinginto them from the platforms, we are compelled to abandonthis notion. To attribute these hollows to the present alluvialaction would be preposterous; nor does the drainagefrom the summit-level always fall, as I remarked near theWeatherboard, into the head of these valleys, but into oneside of their bay-like recesses. Some of the inhabitantsremarked to me that they never viewed one of those bay-likerecesses, with the headlands receding on both hands, withoutbeing struck with their resemblance to a bold sea-coast. Thisis certainly the case; moreover, on the present coast of NewSouth Wales, the numerous, fine, widely-branching harbours,which are generally connected with the sea by a narrowmouth worn through the sandstone coast-cliffs, varying fromone mile in width to a quarter of a mile, present a likeness,though on a miniature scale, to the great valleys of theinterior. But then immediately occurs the startling difficulty,why has the sea worn out these great, though circumscribeddepressions on a wide platform, and left mere gorges at theopenings, through which the whole vast amount of trituratedmatter must have been carried away? The only light I canthrow upon this enigma, is by remarking that banks of themost irregular forms appear to be now forming in some seas,as in parts of the West Indies and in the Red Sea, and thattheir sides are exceedingly steep. Such banks, I have beenled to suppose, have been formed by sediment heaped bystrong currents on an irregular bottom. That in some casesthe sea, instead of spreading out sediment in a uniform sheet,heaps it round submarine rocks and islands, it is hardlypossible to doubt, after examining the charts of the WestIndies; and that the waves have power to form high andprecipitous cliffs, even in land-locked harbours, I have noticedin many parts of South America. To apply these ideas to thesandstone platforms of New South Wales, I imagine that thestrata were heaped by the action of strong currents, and ofthe undulations of an open sea, on an irregular bottom; andthat the valley-like spaces thus left unfilled had their steeplysloping flanks worn into cliffs, during a slow elevation ofthe land; the worn-down sandstone being removed, either atthe time when the narrow gorges were cut by the retreatingsea, or subsequently by alluvial action.

Soon after leaving the Blackheath, we descended from thesandstone platform by the pass of Mount Victoria. To effectthis pass, an enormous quantity of stone has been cutthrough; the design, and its manner of execution, beingworthy of any line of road in England. We now enteredupon a country less elevated by nearly a thousand feet, andconsisting of granite. With the change of rock, the vegetationimproved, the trees were both finer and stood fartherapart; and the pasture between them was a little greener andmore plentiful. At Hassan's Walls, I left the high road,and made a short detour to a farm called Walerawang; tothe superintendent of which I had a letter of introductionfrom the owner in Sydney. Mr. Browne had the kindness toask me to stay the ensuing day, which I had much pleasurein doing. This place offers an example of one of the largefarming, or rather sheep-grazing establishments of thecolony. Cattle and horses are, however, in this case rathermore numerous than usual, owing to some of the valleysbeing swampy and producing a coarser pasture. Two orthree flat pieces of ground near the house were cleared andcultivated with corn, which the harvest-men were now reaping:but no more wheat is sown than sufficient for the annualsupport of the labourers employed on the establishment. Theusual number of assigned convict-servants here is aboutforty, but at the present time there were rather more. Althoughthe farm was well stocked with every necessary,there was an apparent absence of comfort; and not onesingle woman resided here. The sunset of a fine day willgenerally cast an air of happy contentment on any scene;but here, at this retired farm-house, the brightest tints onthe surrounding woods could not make me forget that fortyhardened, profligate men were ceasing from their dailylabours, like the slaves from Africa, yet without their holyclaim for compassion.

Early on the next morning, Mr. Archer, the joint superintendent,had the kindness to take me out kangaroo-hunting.We continued riding the greater part of the day, but hadvery bad sport, not seeing a kangaroo, or even a wild dog.The greyhounds pursued a kangaroo rat into a hollow tree,out of which we dragged it: it is an animal as large as arabbit, but with the figure of a kangaroo. A few years sincethis country abounded with wild animals; but now the emuis banished to a long distance, and the kangaroo is becomescarce; to both the English greyhound has been highlydestructive. It may be long before these animals are altogetherexterminated, but their doom is fixed. The aborigines arealways anxious to borrow the dogs from the farm-houses:the use of them, the offal when an animal is killed, and somemilk from the cows, are the peace-offerings of the settlers,who push farther and farther towards the interior. Thethoughtless aboriginal, blinded by these trifling advantages,is delighted at the approach of the white man, who seemspredestined to inherit the country of his children.

Although having poor sport, we enjoyed a pleasant ride.The woodland is generally so open that a person on horsebackcan gallop through it. It is traversed by a few flat-bottomed valleys, which are green and free from trees: insuch spots the scenery was pretty like that of a park. In thewhole country I scarcely saw a place without the marks of afire; whether these had been more or less recent -- whetherthe stumps were more or less black, was the greatest changewhich varied the uniformity, so wearisome to the traveller'seye. In these woods there are not many birds; I saw, however,some large flocks of the white cockatoo feeding in acorn-field, and a few most beautiful parrots; crows, like ourjackdaws were not uncommon, and another bird somethinglike the magpie. In the dusk of the evening I took a strollalong a chain of ponds, which in this dry country representedthe course of a river, and had the good fortune to see severalof the famous Ornithorhynchus paradoxus. They werediving and playing about the surface of the water, butshowed so little of their bodies, that they might easily havebeen mistaken for water-rats. Mr. Browne shot one: certainlyit is a most extraordinary animal; a stuffed specimen does notat all give a good idea of the appearance of the head and beakwhen fresh; the latter becoming hard and contracted.

20th. -- A long day's ride to Bathurst. Before joining thehighroad we followed a mere path through the forest; andthe country, with the exception of a few squatters' huts, wasvery solitary. We experienced this day the sirocco-like windof Australia, which comes from the parched deserts of theinterior. Clouds of dust were travelling in every direction;and the wind felt as if it had passed over a fire. I afterwardsheard that the thermometer out of doors had stood at119 degs., and in a closed room at 96 degs. In the afternoon wecame in view of the downs of Bathurst. These undulating butnearly smooth plains are very remarkable in this country,from being absolutely destitute of trees. They support onlya thin brown pasture. We rode some miles over this country,and then reached the township of Bathurst, seated in themiddle of what may be called either a very broad valley, ornarrow plain. I was told at Sydney not to form too bad anopinion of Australia by judging of the country from theroadside, nor too good a one from Bathurst; in this latterrespect, I did not feel myself in the least danger of beingprejudiced. The season, it must be owned, had been one of greatdrought, and the country did not wear a favourable aspect;although I understand it was incomparably worse two orthree months before. The secret of the rapidly growingprosperity of Bathurst is, that the brown pasture whichappears to the stranger's eye so wretched, is excellent forsheep-grazing. The town stands, at the height of 2200 feetabove the sea, on the banks of the Macquarie. This is one ofthe rivers flowing into the vast and scarcely known interior.The line of watershed, which divides the inland streams fromthose on the coast, has a height of about 3000 feet, and runsin a north and south direction at the distance of from eightyto a hundred miles from the sea-side. The Macquarie figuresin the map as a respectable river, and it is the largest ofthose draining this part of the water-shed; yet to my surpriseI found it a mere chain of ponds, separated from each otherby spaces almost dry. Generally a small stream is running;and sometimes there are high and impetuous floods. Scantyas the supply of the water is throughout this district, itbecomes still scantier further inland.

22nd. -- I commenced my return, and followed a new roadcalled Lockyer's Line, along which the country is rather morehilly and picturesque. This was a long day's ride; and thehouse where I wished to sleep was some way off the road,and not easily found. I met on this occasion, and indeed onall others, a very general and ready civility among the lowerorders, which, when one considers what they are, and whatthey have been, would scarcely have been expected. Thefarm where I passed the night, was owned by two youngmen who had only lately come out, and were beginning asettler's life. The total want of almost every comfort wasnot attractive; but future and certain prosperity was beforetheir eyes, and that not far distant.

The next day we passed through large tracts of country inflames, volumes of smoke sweeping across the road. Beforenoon we joined our former road, and ascended Mount Victoria.I slept at the Weatherboard, and before dark tookanother walk to the amphitheatre. On the road to SydneyI spent a very pleasant evening with Captain King at Dunheved;and thus ended my little excursion in the colony ofNew South Wales.

Before arriving here the three things which interested memost were -- the state of society amongst the higher classes,the condition of the convicts, and the degree of attractionsufficient to induce persons to emigrate. Of course, afterso very short a visit, one's opinion is worth scarcely anything;but it is as difficult not to form some opinion, as it isto form a correct judgment. On the whole, from what Iheard, more than from what I saw, I was disappointed in thestate of society. The whole community is rancorouslydivided into parties on almost every subject. Among thosewho, from their station in life, ought to be the best, manylive in such open profligacy that respectable people cannotassociate with them. There is much jealousy between thechildren of the rich emancipist and the free settlers, theformer being pleased to consider honest men as interlopers.The whole population, poor and rich, are bent on acquiringwealth: amongst the higher orders, wool and sheep-grazingform the constant subject of conversation. There are manyserious drawbacks to the comforts of a family, the chief ofwhich, perhaps, is being surrounded by convict servants.How thoroughly odious to every feeling, to be waited on bya man who the day before, perhaps, was flogged, from yourrepresentation, for some trifling misdemeanor. The femaleservants are of course, much worse: hence children learn thevilest expressions, and it is fortunate, if not equally vileideas.

On the other hand, the capital of a person, without anytrouble on his part, produces him treble interest to what itwill in England; and with care he is sure to grow rich. Theluxuries of life are in abundance, and very little dearer thanin England, and most articles of food are cheaper. Theclimate is splendid, and perfectly healthy; but to my mindits charms are lost by the uninviting aspect of the country.Settlers possess a great advantage in finding their sons ofservice when very young. At the age of from sixteen totwenty, they frequently take charge of distant farming stations.This, however, must happen at the expense of theirboys associating entirely with convict servants. I am notaware that the tone of society has assumed any peculiarcharacter; but with such habits, and without intellectualpursuits, it can hardly fail to deteriorate. My opinion issuch, that nothing but rather sharp necessity should compelme to emigrate.

The rapid prosperity and future prospects of this colonyare to me, not understanding these subjects, very puzzling.The two main exports are wool and whale-oil, and to bothof these productions there is a limit. The country is totallyunfit for canals, therefore there is a not very distant point,beyond which the land-carriage of wool will not repay theexpense of shearing and tending sheep. Pasture everywhereis so thin that settlers have already pushed far into theinterior: moreover, the country further inland becomes extremelypoor. Agriculture, on account of the droughts, cannever succeed on an extended scale: therefore, so far as Ican see, Australia must ultimately depend upon being thecentre of commerce for the southern hemisphere, and perhapson her future manufactories. Possessing coal, shealways has the moving power at hand. From the habitablecountry extending along the coast, and from her Englishextraction, she is sure to be a maritime nation. I formerlyimagined that Australia would rise to be as grand and powerfula country as North America, but now it appears to methat such future grandeur is rather problematical.

With respect to the state of the convicts, I had still feweropportunities of judging than on other points. The firstquestion is, whether their condition is at all one ofpunishment: no one will maintain that it is a very severe one.This, however, I suppose, is of little consequence as long asit continues to be an object of dread to criminals at home.The corporeal wants of the convicts are tolerably well supplied:their prospect of future liberty and comfort is notdistant, and, after good conduct, certain. A "ticket ofleave," which, as long as a man keeps clear of suspicion aswell as of crime, makes him free within a certain district, isgiven upon good conduct, after years proportional to thelength of the sentence; yet with all this, and overlookingthe previous imprisonment and wretched passage out, Ibelieve the years of assignment are passed away with discontentand unhappiness. As an intelligent man remarked tome, the convicts know no pleasure beyond sensuality, and inthis they are not gratified. The enormous bribe which Governmentpossesses in offering free pardons, together with thedeep horror of the secluded penal settlements, destroysconfidence between the convicts, and so prevents crime. As to asense of shame, such a feeling does not appear to be known,and of this I witnessed some very singular proofs. Thoughit is a curious fact, I was universally told that the characterof the convict population is one of arrant cowardice: notunfrequently some become desperate, and quite indifferent asto life, yet a plan requiring cool or continued courage isseldom put into execution. The worst feature in the wholecase is, that although there exists what may be called a legalreform, and comparatively little is committed which the lawcan touch, yet that any moral reform should take placeappears to be quite out of the question. I was assured bywell-informed people, that a man who should try to improve,could not while living with other assigned servants; -- hislife would be one of intolerable misery and persecution. Normust the contamination of the convict-ships and prisons, bothhere and in England, be forgotten. On the whole, as a placeof punishment, the object is scarcely gained; as a real systemof reform it has failed, as perhaps would every other plan;but as a means of making men outwardly honest, -- of convertingvagabonds, most useless in one hemisphere, intoactive citizens of another, and thus giving birth to a newand splendid country -- a grand centre of civilization -- it hassucceeded to a degree perhaps unparalleled in history.

30th. -- The Beagle sailed for Hobart Town in Van Diemen'sLand. On the 5th of February, after a six days' passage,of which the first part was fine, and the latter very coldand squally, we entered the mouth of Storm Bay: the weatherjustified this awful name. The bay should rather be calledan estuary, for it receives at its head the waters of theDerwent. Near the mouth, there are some extensive basalticplatforms; but higher up the land becomes mountainous, andis covered by a light wood. The lower parts of the hillswhich skirt the bay are cleared; and the bright yellow fieldsof corn, and dark green ones of potatoes, appear very luxuriant.Late in the evening we anchored in the snug cove,on the shores of which stands the capital of Tasmania. Thefirst aspect of the place was very inferior to that of Sydney;the latter might be called a city, this is only a town. Itstands at the base of Mount Wellington, a mountain 3100feet high, but of little picturesque beauty; from this source,however, it receives a good supply of water. Round the covethere are some fine warehouses and on one side a small fort.Coming from the Spanish settlements, where such magnificentcare has generally been paid to the fortifications, themeans of defence in these colonies appeared very contemptible.Comparing the town with Sydney, I was chiefly struckwith the comparative fewness of the large houses, eitherbuilt or building. Hobart Town, from the census of 1835,contained 13,826 inhabitants, and the whole of Tasmania 36,505.

All the aborigines have been removed to an island inBass's Straits, so that Van Diemen's Land enjoys the greatadvantage of being free from a native population. Thismost cruel step seems to have been quite unavoidable, asthe only means of stopping a fearful succession of robberies,burnings, and murders, committed by the blacks; and whichsooner or later would have ended in their utter destruction.I fear there is no doubt, that this train of evil and itsconsequences, originated in the infamous conduct of some ofour countrymen. Thirty years is a short period, in which tohave banished the last aboriginal from his native island, --and that island nearly as large as Ireland. The correspondenceon this subject, which took place between the governmentat home and that of Van Diemen's Land, is very interesting.Although numbers of natives were shot and taken prisonersin the skirmishing, which was going on at intervals for severalyears; nothing seems fully to have impressed them withthe idea of our overwhelming power, until the whole island,in 1830, was put under martial law, and by proclamation thewhole population commanded to assist in one great attemptto secure the entire race. The plan adopted was nearly similarto that of the great hunting-matches in India: a line wasformed reaching across the island, with the intention ofdriving the natives into a _cul-de-sac_ on Tasman's peninsula.The attempt failed; the natives, having tied up their dogs,stole during one night through the lines. This is far fromsurprising, when their practised senses, and usual mannerof crawling after wild animals is considered. I have beenassured that they can conceal themselves on almost bareground, in a manner which until witnessed is scarcely credible;their dusky bodies being easily mistaken for the blackenedstumps which are scattered all over the country. I wastold of a trial between a party of Englishmen and a native,who was to stand in full view on the side of a bare hill; if theEnglishmen closed their eyes for less than a minute, hewould squat down, and then they were never able to distinguishhim from the surrounding stumps. But to return tothe hunting-match; the natives understanding this kind ofwarfare, were terribly alarmed, for they at once perceivedthe power and numbers of the whites. Shortly afterwardsa party of thirteen belonging to two tribes came in; and,conscious of their unprotected condition, delivered themselvesup in despair. Subsequently by the intrepid exertionsof Mr. Robinson, an active and benevolent man, whofearlessly visited by himself the most hostile of the natives,the whole were induced to act in a similar manner. Theywere then removed to an island, where food and clotheswere provided them. Count Strzelecki states,

The Beagle stayed here ten days, and in this time I madeseveral pleasant little excursions, chiefly with the object ofexamining the geological structure of the immediateneighbourhood. The main points of interest consist, first insome highly fossiliferous strata, belonging to the Devonian orCarboniferous period; secondly, in proofs of a late small riseof the land; and lastly, in a solitary and superficial patch ofyellowish limestone or travertin, which contains numerousimpressions of leaves of trees, together with land-shells, notnow existing. It is not improbable that this one small quarryincludes the only remaining record of the vegetation of VanDiemen's Land during one former epoch.

The climate here is damper than in New South Wales,and hence the land is more fertile. Agriculture flourishes;the cultivated fields look well, and the gardens abound withthriving vegetables and fruit-trees. Some of the farmhouses,situated in retired spots, had a very attractive appearance.The general aspect of the vegetation is similar tothat of Australia; perhaps it is a little more green andcheerful; and the pasture between the trees rather moreabundant. One day I took a long walk on the side of the bayopposite to the town: I crossed in a steamboat, two of whichare constantly plying backwards and forwards. The machineryof one of these vessels was entirely manufactured inthis colony, which, from its very foundation, then numberedonly three and thirty years! Another day I ascended MountWellington; I took with me a guide, for I failed in a firstattempt, from the thickness of the wood. Our guide, however,was a stupid fellow, and conducted us to the southernand damp side of the mountain, where the vegetation wasvery luxuriant; and where the labour of the ascent, from thenumber of rotten trunks, was almost as great as on a mountainin Tierra del Fuego or in Chiloe. It cost us five and ahalf hours of hard climbing before we reached the summit.In many parts the Eucalypti grew to a great size, and composeda noble forest. In some of the dampest ravines, tree-ferns flourished in an extraordinary manner; I saw onewhich must have been at least twenty feet high to the baseof the fronds, and was in girth exactly six feet. The frondsforming the most elegant parasols, produced a gloomy shade,like that of the first hour of the night. The summit of themountain is broad and flat, and is composed of huge angularmasses of naked greenstone. Its elevation is 3100 feet abovethe level of the sea. The day was splendidly clear, and weenjoyed a most extensive view; to the north, the countryappeared a mass of wooded mountains, of about the same heightwith that on which we were standing, and with an equallytame outline: to the south the broken land and water, formingmany intricate bays, was mapped with clearness beforeus. After staying some hours on the summit, we found abetter way to descend, but did not reach the Beagle till eighto'clock, after a severe day's work.

February 7th. -- The Beagle sailed from Tasmania, and,on the 6th of the ensuing month, reached King George'sSound, situated close to the S. W. corner of Australia. Westayed there eight days; and we did not during our voyagepass a more dull and uninteresting time. The country,viewed from an eminence, appears a woody plain, with hereand there rounded and partly bare hills of granite protruding.One day I went out with a party, in hopes of seeing akangaroo hunt, and walked over a good many miles of country.Everywhere we found the soil sandy, and very poor;it supported either a coarse vegetation of thin, low brushwoodand wiry grass, or a forest of stunted trees. Thescenery resembled that of the high sandstone platform of theBlue Mountains; the Casuarina (a tree somewhat resemblinga Scotch fir) is, however, here in greater number, andthe Eucalyptus in rather less. In the open parts there weremany grass-trees, -- a plant which, in appearance, has someaffinity with the palm; but, instead of being surmounted bya crown of noble fronds, it can boast merely of a tuft ofvery coarse grass-like leaves. The general bright green colourof the brushwood and other plants, viewed from a distance,seemed to promise fertility. A single walk, however, was enoughto dispel such an illusion; and he who thinks with me will neverwish to walk again in so uninviting a country.

One day I accompanied Captain Fitz Roy to Bald Head;the place mentioned by so many navigators, where some imaginedthat they saw corals, and others that they saw petrifiedtrees, standing in the position in which they had grown.According to our view, the beds have been formed by thewind having heaped up fine sand, composed of minute roundedparticles of shells and corals, during which processbranches and roots of trees, together with many land-shells,became enclosed. The whole then became consolidated bythe percolation of calcareous matter; and the cylindricalcavities left by the decaying of the wood, were thus alsofilled up with a hard pseudo-stalactical stone. The weatheris now wearing away the softer parts, and in consequencethe hard casts of the roots and branches of the trees projectabove the surface, and, in a singularly deceptive manner,resemble the stumps of a dead thicket.

A large tribe of natives, called the White Cockatoo menhappened to pay the settlement a visit while we were there.These men, as well as those of the tribe belonging to KingGeorge's Sound, being tempted by the offer of some tubs ofrice and sugar, were persuaded to hold a "corrobery," orgreat dancing-party. As soon as it grew dark, small fireswere lighted, and the men commenced their toilet, whichconsisted in painting themselves white in spots and lines.As soon as all was ready, large fires were kept blazing,round which the women and children were collected as spectators;the Cockatoo and King George's men formed two distinctparties, and generally danced in answer to each other.The dancing consisted in their running either sideways or inIndian file into an open space, and stamping the ground withgreat force as they marched together. Their heavy footstepswere accompanied by a kind of grunt, by beating theirclubs and spears together, and by various other gesticulations,such as extending their arms and wriggling theirbodies. It was a most rude, barbarous scene, and, to ourideas, without any sort of meaning; but we observed thatthe black women and children watched it with the greatestpleasure. Perhaps these dances originally represented actions,such as wars and victories; there was one called the Emudance, in which each man extended his arm in a bent manner,like the neck of that bird. In another dance, one manimitated the movements of a kangaroo grazing in the woods,whilst a second crawled up, and pretended to spear him.When both tribes mingled in the dance, the ground trembledwith the heaviness of their steps, and the air resounded withtheir wild cries. Every one appeared in high spirits, and thegroup of nearly naked figures, viewed by the light of theblazing fires, all moving in hideous harmony, formed a perfectdisplay of a festival amongst the lowest barbarians. InTierra del Fuego, we have beheld many curious scenes insavage life, but never, I think, one where the natives werein such high spirits, and so perfectly at their ease. Afterthe dancing was over, the whole party formed a great circleon the ground, and the boiled rice and sugar was distributed,to the delight of all.

After several tedious delays from clouded weather, on the14th of March, we gladly stood out of King George's Soundon our course to Keeling Island. Farewell, Australia! youare a rising child, and doubtless some day will reign a greatprincess in the South: but you are too great and ambitiousfor affection, yet not great enough for respect. I leave yourshores without sorrow or regret.

different climates. At the little island of St. Helena theintroduction of scarlet fever is dreaded as a plague. In somecountries, foreigners and natives are as differently affected bycertain contagious disorders as if they had been differentanimals; of which fact some instances have occurred in Chile;and, according to Humboldt, in Mexico (Polit. Essay, New Spain,vol. iv.).